Virgin Records
Name: '''Virgin Records '''Owner: Richard Branson Location: UK Genre: Pop, Rock, Metal, Gospel, Classical, R&B, Hip-Hop, Grime, Crunk&B, Reggae, Country, Dance, House, Indie Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo,Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny Kravitz, The Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, and more on their list of artists. It was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. Its American operations were merged with Capitol Records in 2007 to create the Capitol Music Group. Branson and Powell had initially run a small record shop called Virgin Records and Tapes on Notting Hill Gate, London, specialising particularly in "krautrock" imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label. The name Virgin, according to Branson (in his autobiography), arose from Tessa Watts, a colleague of his, when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin - as they were all new to business - like "virgins". The original Virgin logo (known to fans as the "Gemini" or "Twins" logo) was designed by English artist and illustrator Roger Dean: a young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed serpent and the word "Virgin" in Dean's familiar script. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label. The first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973, for which the fledgling label garnered unprecedented acclaim. This was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album Phaedra by Tangerine Dream (which went Top 10), and The Faust Tapes and Faust IV by Faust. The Faust Tapes album retailed for 49p (the price of a 7" single) and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band to reach number 12 in the album charts. Other early albums include Gong's Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1), which Daevid Allen has been quoted as having never been paid for. # *30 Seconds to Mars (Immortal/Virgin) *The 69 Eyes *311 A *Aaliyah *Paula Abdul *Adelitas Way *A Perfect Circle *After 7 *The Air Pirates *Alice in Chains *Alien *Brooke Allison *Marc Almond *The Almost (Tooth and Nail) *Altan *Althea and Donna *Amen *AM Taxi *Amorphis *Carleen Anderson *And One *Antique *Tasmin Archer *The Ark *Atomic Kitten *The Avant Gardener *Kevin Ayers B *Joan Baez *Balaam and the Angel *Tony Banks *Victoria Beckham *Beenie Man *Below Basic *Thom Bishop *Black Rebel Motorcycle Club *Blind Guardian *Blue *Blue Man Group *Blur (US only) *Body Count *Boxer *David Bowie (US only) *Boy George *Brother Cane *Melanie Brown *Bruce Boniface *Bubba Sparxxx *Byte the Bullet C *Camper Van Beethoven *Can *Captain Beefheart *Melanie C *Chris Cagle (Virgin Nashville) *Mariah Carey *Belinda Carlisle (outside US & Canada) *The Chemical Brothers *Che'Nelle *Neneh Cherry *Anne Clark *Gilby Clarke *College Boyz *Phil Collins (UK and Ireland) *Comateens *Nikka Costa *Cracker *The Cult *Culture Club *Curve *Cutting Crew D *Dave Gahan (US only) *Deaf Pedestrians *D.A.F. *Daft Punk *Roger Daltrey *Danny Wilson *Clay Davidson (Virgin Nashville) *D'Angelo *Deadmau5 *Deja *Devo *Thomas Dolby *Does It Offend You, Yeah? *dc Talk *Stephen Tin Tin Duffy *Dwele E *The Edge *Electronic *Emily and the Strangers *Endgames *Enigma *Eurythmics *Everything but the Girl (except US & Canada) *Every Little Thing (Japan) *The Exies *E.U. *Emeli Sandé F *Ricky Fante *Perry Farrell *Fat Joe *Faust *Bryan Ferry *A Fine Frenzy *Fingerprintz *Tim Finn *The Flying Lizards *Flying Pickets *Julia Fordham *Fountains of Wayne *Peter Frampton G *Peter Gabriel (outside US & Canada) *Gang Starr *General Public *Genesis (outside US & Canada) *Gillan *Ian Gillan *Goldfrapp *Goldrush *Gong *The Good, the Bad & the Queen *Gorillaz (US only) *Great and Lady Soul *Green River Ordinance *David Guetta *Guru H *Steve Hackett (outside US) *Geri Halliwell *Ben Harper *Heaven 17 *Henry Cow *Holly and the Italians *The Human League *Hilary Duff (4Ever Hilary Duff Only Italy) I *Iggy Pop *James Iha *Ima Robot *Immature *Inner City *It Bites J *J.B.O. *Janet Jackson *The Japanese Popstars *Joe Jackson *Japan *Jamie T *Jentina *Jesus Loves You *Jin *Johnny Hates Jazz *Juliet K *Kavana *Kelis *Jerry Kilgore (Virgin Nashville) *Killing Joke *King Crimson *King Swamp *The Kooks *Korn *k-os *Lenny Kravitz *Kerli L *Shona Laing *The Last Goodnight *Latin Alliance *Ava Leigh *Julian Lennon (except US & Canada) *LCD Soundsystem *Les Rita Mitsouko *Le Toya *Lil' Eazy-E *Linton Kwesi Johnson *Courtney Love M *Malcolm Wenz (Virgin London) *Kirsty MacColl *Madness (outside the US & Canada) *Magazine *Cheb Mami *Manfred Mann's Earth Band *Manowar *Laura Marling *Zeeteah Massiah *Massive Attack *MC Skat Kat *Malcolm McLaren *Meat Loaf (outside US & Canada 1992-99; US & Canada 2007-) *Roy D. Mercer (Virgin Nashville) *George Michael (outside US & Canada until 1999) *Mighty Diamonds *Mike + The Mechanics *Microdisney *The Monochrome Set *Gary Moore *Motion *The Motors *The Music *My Favorite Highway N *N*E*R*D *Newsboys *Never Heard Of It *Now That's What I Call Music! (compilation series) *Michael Nyman O *Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder *Liam O'Connor *Mary Margaret O'Hara *Mike Oldfield *Oomph! *Roy Orbison *Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark *Stacie Orrico *The Other Ones *Outside Edge P *Palladium *Hope Partlow *Penetration *Amanda Perez *Anthony Phillips *Sam Phillips *Billie Piper *Placebo *Porcelain Black *Tristan Prettyman *Pretty Poison *Professor Green *Maxi Priest *Public Image Ltd. *Purple Ribbon All-Stars *Pure Moods (compilation series) Q *Queen * R Razah *The Railway Children *RBD *The Records *The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus *Julie Reeves (Virgin Nashville) *Priscilla Renea (Capitol/Virgin joining) *Relentless *Richard Ashcroft *Keith Richards *Juliet Richardson *River Road (Virgin Nashville) *The Rolling Stones *Christy Carlson Romano *Roxx Gang *Roxy Music (E.G./Virgin) *Röyksopp *The Ruts *Ruth Lorenzo (2009-2010) S *Saosin *Sacred Spirit *Sandra *Savage Progress *Saving Abel *Boz Scaggs *Scarlett and Black *Jon Secada *The Sex Pistols *Shaggy *Shapeshifters *Sharissa *Feargal Sharkey *SheSays *Shooting Star *Sick Puppies *Simple Minds *Skunk Anansie *Slapp Happy *The Smashing Pumpkins *Elliott Smith *Sneaker Pimps *Snow *Soul II Soul *Sparks *Spice Girls *Stacie Orrico *The Starting Line *Jermaine Stewart *Joss Stone *Strive Roots *Suicidal Tendencies *Swedish House Mafia *Switched *David Sylvian and Robert Fripp T *The Table *Tangerine Dream *Terror Squad (Terror Squad/Imperial/Virgin Records) *Thalía *The Thrills *Yann Tiersen *T'Pau *Traffic *Trina *KT Tunstall *Turbonegro *Turdus Musicus *Tina Turner (US only) U *UB40 *Unbelievable Truth *Underoath (UK) V *Brooke Valentine *Velcra *The Verve *Angela Via W *Scott Walker *Warrior (band) *We Are Scientists *Wendy & Lisa *Whale *When in Rome *Steve Winwood *Working Week *Robert Wyatt *Wigwam X *XTC Y *Yanni *You Am I *You Me At Six *Sydney Youngblood *Yellowman Z *Warren Zevon